I recently tested 3 propellers to replace the current propeller on my 2010 17' Glastron 180GT powered by an Evinrude E-Tech 150 HO. The results were not what I expected and really help illustrate how difficult it is to predict which propeller will be best for a given boat/motor combination given the vast number of variables involved.
The propeller that was on the boat when I bought it was a stock BRP 19 pitch, 3 blade, 14.5" diameter aluminum prop. At WOT the propeller gave 5050 rpm and around 47 - 48 mph (according to a handheld Garmin GPS).
For the ETec, the max rpm is 5,850 and the gear ratio is 1.86:1 so my goal was to get a prop that gave me as close to 5,850 at WOT without going over it.
Here are the 3 props that I tested.
Please note all of the following propellers were Solas brand and were all Stainless Steel.
Prop 1:
17 pitch, 3 blade, 14.25" diameter.
Prop 2:
17 pitch, 4 blade, 14.25" diameter. Blades are more cupped than the 3 blade version
Prop 3:
4 blade, 14.5" diameter. Again, blades are highly cupped on the Solas 4 blade props.
There was a clear winner. Care to guess which one came out on top? ;-)
The propeller that was on the boat when I bought it was a stock BRP 19 pitch, 3 blade, 14.5" diameter aluminum prop. At WOT the propeller gave 5050 rpm and around 47 - 48 mph (according to a handheld Garmin GPS).
For the ETec, the max rpm is 5,850 and the gear ratio is 1.86:1 so my goal was to get a prop that gave me as close to 5,850 at WOT without going over it.
Here are the 3 props that I tested.
Please note all of the following propellers were Solas brand and were all Stainless Steel.
Prop 1:
17 pitch, 3 blade, 14.25" diameter.
Prop 2:
17 pitch, 4 blade, 14.25" diameter. Blades are more cupped than the 3 blade version
Prop 3:
4 blade, 14.5" diameter. Again, blades are highly cupped on the Solas 4 blade props.
There was a clear winner. Care to guess which one came out on top? ;-)